Spanish Pavilion - From the City of Our Fathers to the City for our Children

The Spanish Pavilion is located in Zone C of the Expo site, a short distance from the pavilions of Switzerland, Poland and Belgium/EU.

The Tagliabue studio’s design for the Pavilion is intended to flee from the traditional concept of the building as a box or container, and uses large courtyards shaped like "baskets" to ease movement between the spaces. The building is made with natural materials that are consistent with a sustainable environment. The front of the Pavilion will be covered with exactly 8524 wickers ("mimbre" in spanish), to showcase traditional handcraft and to give it a great looking "tiger skin" appearance (for the Tiger Year!). The wickers will be sustained by a framework of supports and tubular steel beams, allowing the daylight to reach the interior. The tubular steel, chosen for aesthetic reasons, will give the great basket-building its rigid aspect, but it will be assembled in a way that allows easy dismantling. The roof will feature an energy system based on translucent photovoltaic panels, and interior design elements will be light, using bamboo and diaphanous fabric. The Pavilion will have a total useable area of some 7,081 square m2.

Inside the Pavilion, an exhibition named "From the City of our Fathers to the City of our Children" will introduce the great changes accomplished in Spain during the last 4 decades. "Empty / Noé Group" is in charge of supplying the content of the exhibition, with the help of a multidisciplinary team of architects, sociologists, filmmakers, and artists including Basilio Martin Patino, Bigas Luna and Isabel Coixet, three outstanding figures of three different generations in Spanish cinema.The exhibition will cover 2640 square meters and will be divided into 3 main sections :

1 - “From Nature to the City”, the atavistic and the immemorial, the wild and the civilized starting with a "time tunnel" 

2-“From the City of our Fathers to that of Today” – reviewing the recent past

3-“From Today’s City to that of our Children” – a very big "surprise" is expected for visitors with the help of the latest technological effects to display a futuristic approach of tomorrow's City.  

The three levels of the east wing of the Pavilion contain additional public spaces, a hall for official receptions and offices. The ground floor will feature the three exhibition spaces, a tapas bar where up to 170 people can enjoy tapas and spanish cuisine; a shop near the exit of the exhibition area, featuring products of Spanish design; and a multipurpose auditorium accommodating up to 150 people. The first floor will contain offices, a press room, a business meeting centre, and a radio studio while the second floor will have rooms for official receptions, meeting rooms, offices, and storage spaces.

The Spanish Pavilion will offer a number of cultural activities, performances and shows, both within the Pavilion but also in the main stages in the Expo site. 15 spanish regions and provinces have signed up to provide in Shanghai a whole week with their own programming. A flamenco week will especially heat up the place !

Holding the EU presidency until june 2010, Spain will jointly organise a special European day on the 9th of May 2010. Check out our news page for the update.